Three Days of Hiking at Cumberland Falls, 4-28-25

Kentucky’s Cumberland Falls SP is just far enough away that a visit there seems like a special treat. It has long been a favorite retreat for us for those “just want to get out of town” trips (Here). Most visitors come for a stay at the Lodge and to view the mighty waterfall, but we know there’s also a weekend worthy trail system. Spring was beginning to fade in Knoxville, and we hoped to catch up with some of the better blooms by heading a bit farther north.

Cumberland Falls.

4-28-25, Blue Bend Loop

Our first hike was around the 4.7 mile Blue Bend Loop. Not far from the trailhead we encountered another couple who told us there were few flowers in bloom on the trail ahead. They were right, the pickings were slim for ridge top flowers, at these elevations the trees were fully budded out. And as it turned out, they were the only other hikers we saw on the trip. But as we descended to the river the soil was moister, the flowers more abundant, and we passed through the sheer cliff bands separating the uplands from the river bottom. We stopped for lunch at the tip of Blue Bend underneath a mighty wall of sandstone. 

Crack in Rock at Blue Bend.

The last half of the hike follows the Sheltowee Trace Trail downstream to Cumberland Falls. The quiet river beside the trail gives little warning of the massive drop ahead. We closed the loop surprised by the day’s heat and humidity, but at least we had dodged the scattered showers featured in the weather forecast.

Lunchtime at the rock house.

The Lodge area at Cumberland Falls hosts a network of short trails. I used Trail 4 (CCC Trail) and Trail 12 (Wildflower Trail) to make a two mile trail run. Trail 12 confirmed we were well after peak wildflowers, But I thought Trail 12 traversed enough rock formations that it deserved to be renamed for its rocky bluffs.

Dwarf Crested Iris.

4-29-25, Cumberland River Loop

The Cumberland River Loop is the longest (9.0 mi.) loop at CFSP, so we chose it for our middle day, when we’d have no driving to do. We hiked from the Lodge area to the falls on Trail 6 and were the first arrivals for the morning. 

Morning at Cumberland Falls.

We took advantage of the morning light for some photos, then headed upstream along the river on the opposite side from Blue Bend. This is usually the best flower watching in the park. We didn’t see large numbers of flowers, though the diversity was still good.

White Trillium.

Next was the climb up to Pinnacle Knob Tower, located about halfway around the loop, and our target for a lunch break. The tower was once open for viewing, but is now closed, except to organized groups from the state park. We found a small overlook and bench on a short side trail just below the tower. The overlook was small consolation. The view was just a sea of green, and we couldn’t make out any park features underneath the dense tree canopy. 

Pinnacle Knob Tower.

My favorite part of the loop is the far side. Here you hike upstream along the river, which is now winding through the canyon it carved as the falls migrated upstream over time. The erosion left huge boulders strewn in the rivers for boaters to navigate, and layers of thick sandstone forming the canyon rim with cliffs, rock houses, and narrow passages for the hiker to traverse. The geology would be enough to keep me coming back, but it’s not all. There are some great flower displays if you’re lucky enough to spot them.

Laurel ready to bloom.

The one downside here is the trail conditions. This trail is simultaneously the Cumberland River Loop, part of the Moonbow Trail, and part of the Sheltowee Trace Trail. As such it seems to get a lot of inexperienced hikers. There are a number of social trails ranching off the main path, and often the designated trail is tough to determine. Additionally, the map has an error, omitting a short piece of former Trail 7 which was a bypass for the Moonbow/Sheltowee Trail in high water. The Moonbow/Sheltowee now follows the entire former bypass and the old route is abandoned. This leaves tired hikers working hard to stay on route when they should be enjoying the end of a fantastic hike. Luckily, Jean and I remembered this situation from our last trip in 2021, and we never got too far off course. 

Pink Lady Slipper.

The payoff for the loop is another stroll past the overlooks below Cumberland Falls in the developed area. After we got another set of pictures we were happy to discover the snack bar was open for the season, and already stocked with soft serve ice cream. That left just a short climb on Trail 6 back to the Lodge area, and then a clean up before dinner at the Lodge. 

Pink Lady Slippers.

4-30-25, Eagle Falls

We left our shortest (2.2 mi.) hike for the drive home day. Once again we were out early and had the trail to ourselves. The Eagle Falls Trail is mostly used by those looking to photograph Cumberlands Falls from above and looking towards the developed area. When we first visited the park there were several overlooks just a short way down the trail, but time has worn those away and the trail has been rerouted to a safer, but less scenic, course.

Eagle Falls.

On the way to the one remaining overlook, we took a side trail to visit a CCC-era trail shelter that with some judicious trimming could also provide a good view of the falls. The remaining fenced overlook is just past the start of the trail’s loop portion. We took pictures there and then walked the side trail down to Eagle Falls. 

Cumberland Falls from the overlook.

The descent to Eagle Falls involves stone steps, metal ladders, and a lot of careful stepping. It’s worth it though for the close in view of Eagle Falls at it tumbles out of a narrow canyon nearly right into the river. In contrast to the bigger Cumberland Falls and river, at Eagle Falls we could tell the recent rains had pushed the creek flows up. Most similar waterfalls in the Cumberlands trickle down from one level to the next, Eagle Falls was gushing.

The remainder of the loop features some scenic cliff bands along with a view of Eagle Creek, pre-falls.

Cumberland Falls.

After checking out of our room and grabbing a snack, we hiked Trail 6 down to the river for one more view an another 2.3 mile. Cumberland Falls could be the signature sight for a much larger park, it would be a shame to take it for granted.

Azalea in bloom.

Concord Park Mountain Biking, 4-21-2025

4-21-25, 10.7 mi., Solo

Concord Park is one of those nearby places that doesn’t get a lot of attention. The park is in Farragut, so friends like Mark, Ron, and Steven visit often, but Jean and I do not. Mostly I’ve avoided it because of the huge volume of commuter traffic entering and exiting Farragut. But I have discovered recently that if I avoid rush hour it’s an easy 15-20 minute trip. Previously I had only been on the older trails at Concord, now referred to as the “Dog Park” Area. I’d been hearing a lot of good things about the “new” trails at Concord and decided to give the area another chance. 

Map of the original Concord Park Trails.

Concord Park is now a string of four areas stretching west along Northshore Drive through Farragut. The original Dog Park Area extends east along a golf course and consists of three nested loops. On the same ridge to the west are the two shorter loops of the second area. I am not sure how old these loops are, but maps from 2002 & 2003 show both areas.  (East TN Mtn Bike)

My first visit to Concord was on the mountain bike in 2006 with Mark. I don’t know our exact route through the East Area, but I remember some bumpy, overgrown trail, and an epic faceplant into a patch of poison ivy. It looked like even with good clearing and tread work, these would still be rougher trails than most would prefer. I GPS’ed most of the area on a solo run in 2010, hiked and took pictures there with Jean in 2011, and ran an oppressively hot KTC trail race in 2012. My last two visits had been with Mark running loops in 2013. Concord has a well-deserved reputation for poison ivy which helped keep me away.

Jean and I hiking at Concord in 2011.

Since that time, much of the emphasis of local mountain biking shifted from established areas like Concord, Haw Ridge, Norris, and IC King parks to the Urban Wilderness in South Knoxville. In the final stages of trail building in the Urban Wilderness, instead of the usual rough and tumble handmade single tracks, smoother machine cut trails were built at Baker Creek. With this more beginner friendly terrain, mountain biking really took off in places like Baker Creek, Sharps Ridge, Loyston, and Concord.

During this transition my biking really lagged, being limited to a few outings a year near home with DK. But DK finally convinced me to buy a “modern” mountain bike and to justify the purchase I started to ride more. Baker Creek was “in”, as were Sharps and the newly rehabilitated trails at Haw Ridge. Looking around for similar hero dirt, the other name that kept popping up was Concord. It helped that both Mark and Ron run there regularly. I also wanted to keep up with my goal of riding all the available singletrack around Knoxville.

Finally ready to give it a shot I went to the “Dog Park” area first, assuming I could warm up on familiar turf and access all the other trails from there. I tried the Main Loop on the east side first, assuming it would be a good warm up loop. But even the main loop had lots of junctions and few signs, so I spent as much time map reading as I did riding. I remembered the outer loops as being even rockier, so I skipped them.

Next I went over to the west side and rode the West Loop counterclockwise. I did not like that trail at all. It was rocky, rough, and brushy, the kind of trail you might ride for practice, rather than enjoyment. I cut down to the lake on a user trail, then went to the picnic area looking for the connector to the bridge leading to the Calloway Ridge parking area where the new stuff would begin. After one whiff, I tried again and snuck out on Northshore Road to confirm that there was no bike connector. The one other rider I talked with thought the Calloway Ridge riding was too rocky. I thought about bailing out, but packed up my bike again, and drove Northshore west past the roundabout, and U-turned to park in the Calloway lot.

Luckily there was another rider in the Calloway lot, and even more luckily, he was friendly and experienced. He offered to show me around enough to get started as there are no maps, and incomplete signage on the new trails. Going west, Calloway is the third link in the chain of parks. It has an easy green perimeter ride and a blue trail over the top of the ridge. We did the easy trail, which was enough to bring out the differences in our skill levels. He sought out all the trail features while I would ride around each one.

Across the fishing bridge we hit the Ballfield area, the fourth link in the chain. Luckily, I had a GPS, because I was barely able to keep up without stopping to read what few signs were there. As best I can tell, we started on Lago and also rode Full Count, Knuckleball, and the Upper Deck Loop. These trails were what I’d hoped for; smooth surfaces, gentle grades and great flow. I repeated Upper Deck, went Around the Horn, and took a trip into the interior, knowing that most riders would just cruise around. No more trips to the Dog Park for me!

I knew it would be hard to ride all the trails, without ticking them off on a map along the way. The Ballfield is a complicated network. But I hoped come back to keep up my goal of riding/hiking/running all the local trails (though skipping any expert level, downhill, bike only routes).

Calloway Ridge and Ballfield Area Rides.

 

6-29-25, 10.6 mi., Solo

After my April ride at Concord, I was excited to get back to the park for some challenging single track. But late spring was wet, and I was never able to make it back out when the trails were dry, at least according to the AMBC’s Knox Area Trail Report.

Finally, a high heat dome settled over Knoxville, and dried out the trails. This time I started from the Calloway Ridge TH near the roundabout arriving about 8AM on a Sunday. First, I rode the Calloway Ridge Loop over to the Ballfield Area, where I hoped to finish up most of the two-way trails. Calloway is a fun trail, great warm up and at a full mile in length, the longest of the Ballfield or Calloway trails. I only missed one turn, cruising down the Concord Greenway, instead of immediately ducking under the bridge to get to the Ballfield Area. This time I would not have a tour guide, but there were other riders and runners out.

Trail marking is sketchy at Concord, especially for a trail network that’s otherwise in great shape. The junctions are marked with a sharpie on white plates, most of which have faded or blurred, plus a few are missing. There are no maps. Even online I could not find a static map, only the interactive map on Trailforks looked up to date. It’s a complicated network and I realize most folks probably just ride around until they get tired, then try to head back. I used my phone to record mileage and made a Maprika track. It was cool ~80F at the start and didn’t warm up much throughout the morning as I was able to keep to the shade.

I started the same way I’d ridden with my guide last time, around Lago on a CCW loop. Then I took Full Count to Knuckleball. Both were great trails, and I enjoyed their smooth surface, easy grades, and gentle flow. I was feeling good on the bike and was tracking my route OK until I came to a 6(!)-way intersection. I picked High and Tight from the options and found I really enjoyed it. It is a longer trail with fewer intersections and has a cross country feel that I liked.

The Ballfield Area at Concord is all machine cut single track customized for mountain biking. Calloway Ridge and the Ballfield, along with the Baker Creek Area in South Knoxville are the most recent trails built around town and easily the most fun trails around. Many older trails in Knoxville were built to be challenging and are steeper, narrower, and much rougher with rocks and roots. It took a generation or so for the building cost for the machine dug trails to come down, and for folks to realize the easier trails would be more fun, and attract more riders.

I rode into a mere 4-way junction that I remembered from my April ride, and followed it back to the 6-way. I next went Around the Horn, rated green, but honestly the green and blues seemed similar. I decided to ride High and Tight again, and took it back to the 4 and 6 way junctions. There were enough riders that I could have easily asked for directions, but not enough to make the trail seem crowded. I did another short loop to pick up Batter Up, then headed home via the triple crown of Knuckleball, Full Count, and Lago again. The Concord trails have especially good flow and for these hot, humid summer days it’s key to be able to ride fast enough to enjoy a breeze of your own making. No reason to sauna your way up some steep lakeside hill!

This left Bad Hop as the only two way trail I didn’t ride at the Ballfield. But I still had all the one way, downhill trails left; Warning Track (a rare green 1-way), The short Strike Zone and Switch Hitter near the 6-way, and the longer Lockdown and Breakout which are served by the climb up Bad Hop. At Calloway I had not ridden the blue trails Claim Letter, Full Speed Ahead, and the connector, plus the Greenway and Wall Ride. One more trip with the right attention to the map ought to do it.

Ballfield Area map from Trailforks.

 

7-5-25, 10.3 mi., Solo

My goals for the day were to get out early enough to delay the beating I’d take from the hot humid weather, and to finish off the trails I still needed to complete my Concord Trail Map. I was at the Calloway Ridge TH by 7:30. I’d heard bad things about big rocks on Shades (a Black Trail) and decided to hike it, then made a loop with Claim Letter and picked off the short connectors along the way. Hiking mileage was 1.7.

Next, I got on the bike and rode to the Ballfield Area, climbed up Bad Hop, and took the downhill trails Lockdown and Breakdown. Part three of the day would be the three downhill trails by the six-way junction; Strike Zone, Switch Hitter, and Warning Track where I got good advice on the size of the features on Strike Zone from some other riders. Then after some fun single track I went back to the bridge and rode the Greenway a bit past the roundabout and came back along Wallride to complete my map! By then it was late morning and while it was still about 80F in the shade, it was approaching 90F in the sun. Ride over.

Here's a summary of the trails I rode with mileages, ratings, and uses from Trailforks.

1-Full Speed Ahead, 0.1 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; This short trail adds some features to a bypass around the easy start of the Calloway Ridge Loop.

2-Rocky Point, 0.1 mi., Black; This short, rocky connector leads underneath Northshore Drive to Rocky Point Park.

3-Shades, 0.7 mi., Black; This trail is rated Black primarily for the large rock piles that appear to remnants of an old quarry. Probably more fun on foot than on the bike.

4-Black Hole, 0.1 mi., Black; A short spur that leads around a long abandoned and flooded quarry.

5-Claim Letter, 0.4 mi., Blue; A ridgetop route that bisects the Calloway Ridge Loop. Probably rated Blue for the climb to the ridge.

6-Claim Letter Connector,0.1 mi., Blue; Some tight switchbacks on this fun shortcut between Calloway and Claim Letter.

7-Bad Hop, 0.7 mi., Blue; Probably the easiest way to reach the ridgetop, Upper Deck Loop, and to access to the downhill trails in the Ballfield Area.

8-Lockdown, 0.3 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Downhill trail featuring jumps. All features can be bypassed.

9-Breakout, 0.3 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Downhill extension of Lockdown featuring more berms and bumps. All features can be bypassed.

10-Strike Zone, 0.3 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Descends from the 6-way junction with much bigger features than the other downhill trails at Concord. Some features are difficult to bypass. Return via Full Count.

11-Switch Hitter, 0.1 mi., Blue, Downhill Only; Descends from 6-way alongside Batter Up. Trail features can be bypassed.

12-Warning Track, 0.25 mi., Green Downhill Only; Features are mostly easy rollers. Try this line first if you are unsure of your riding ability.

13-Greenway, Easy; Rode from east end of Ballfield Area, past the roundabout to Concord Road. West end is sunny, east end is shaded.

14-Wallride, 0.3 mi., Green Downhill Only; Features are mostly easy rollers with some steep banked turns. Makes a loop with greenway.

Obviously, lots of trails here, but not a lot of mileage. Knox County cites 13.7 miles of dirt trail, and two miles of paved greenway in the park. Even though they don’t total to a lot of miles, finishing 14 trails in a single morning has to be some kind of record. For me the three black trails would be no fun on the bike. The Blue downhills Strike Zone and Switch Hitter are too technical. I could probably work up to enjoy Lockdown and Breakup. The trails I rode on my first visits Lago, Knuckleball, Full Count, Around the Horn, and High and Tight have enough distance to make for a fun full trip. These trails have good flow, a smooth surface, and no features I could hurt myself on.

Calloway Ridge Area trail map from Trailforks.